Group items tagged

"Today, it's in vogue to talk about how Slack is going to replace email. As someone who has seen this play out a dozen times now, let me give you a little spoiler: Slack is not going to replace email. But Slack isn't the problem here, either. It's just another communication tool. The problem of email overload is both ancient and persistent. If the problem were really with "email", then, presumably, one of the nine million email apps that dot the app-stores like mushrooms sprouting from a globe-spanning mycelium would have just solved it by now, and we could all move on with our lives. Instead, it is permanently in vogue1 to talk about how overloaded we all are. "

"Lighten up your email with the Emotional Labor extension. Works on any email sent through Gmail. First write an email. Then click the smiley face to brighten up the tone of the email before sending. "

I could have written this (absent email arguments). "I could have written that yesterday. I've learned a ton more about programming and databases; I've spent time getting the basics of computer science; and it's all to just keep doing the same damn things over and over again, and then forgetting I did them, and repeating them. Like a version of Groundhog Day about making Groundhog Day. "

"Now, 369 images, several conference presentations, and more than 67,000 views later, there's evidence that crowdsourcing can work with even the most archaic of subjects. Twenty-eight individuals (from amateur enthusiasts to established scholars) contributed to the project by providing input via comments on the Flickr page. A number of other individuals assisted through emails or phone calls. Thus far, 94 of the 116 identifiable fragments have been identified, and nearly 57 percent of those were identified through crowdsourcing (by date, region, or the text itself). "

"Now, 369 images, several conference presentations, and more than 67,000 views later, there's evidence that crowdsourcing can work with even the most archaic of subjects. Twenty-eight individuals (from amateur enthusiasts to established scholars) contributed to the project by providing input via comments on the Flickr page. A number of other individuals assisted through emails or phone calls. Thus far, 94 of the 116 identifiable fragments have been identified, and nearly 57 percent of those were identified through crowdsourcing (by date, region, or the text itself). "

"We can do better by our students. The number one thing would be to inculcate the idea of the university *as* a workplace, and all of us as professionals in it. And of course, many professors (me!) need a lot more training in the mechanics of the workplace than we ever get. The next, and much easier thing, would be to offer opportunities to acquire basic workplace technical skills: using software, running meetings, emailing like a grownup, navigating the org chart."

At the end of each day, I sit and I think about everything that I had learned from morning till night and I transform it into a "Daily Doodle." By combining studying and drawing, each doodle acts as a learning tool and a creative exercise. Please note that I am still in the learning process and that my doodles may not be accurate. If you find any errors, please send me an email so that I can learn from my mistakes! (michiko.maruyama@gmail.com)

The Netflix of podcasts?

"News sites with modular, image-heavy designs receive more pageviews and have stronger user engagement than sites with more staid, newspaper-inspired designs, according to a report"

The potential power of Twitter / social media

decline of tablets / e-readers; rise of phone

Society for News Design winners, including some data viz examples.

No idea why I got this ad in my private email, but it has an interesting video on "myths about online learning." After I stopped laughing at the cheesy approach, I thought, "Hmmmm....we actually could use something like this."

Over the last decade, neuroscientists distinguished two systems of attention and associated thought. One is directed outward, as when you scroll through your email or play Candy Crush. The other is directed inward, as when you daydream, plan what you'll do tomorrow, or reflect on the past. Clearly, most digital activities call for outwardly directed attention. These two modes of attention work like a toggle switch; when one is on, the other is off. In fact, when attention is outwardly directed, the inwardly directed attention system is somewhat suppressed. Given the amount of time people spend with digital devices, that sounds ominous. Will we actually lose our ability to daydream? Let's hope not.

"Not Just On the Web but Of the Web" Excellent, accessible discussion about making web content unique to its platform, using mainstream (NPR) examples.

h/t David C.

"A group of almost 40 mathematicians wrote a 600 page textbook on Homotopy Type Theory in less than six months. They taught themselves git, and they used GitHub for hosting, pull requests, and discussions. The book simply wouldn't exist without GitHub. That. Is. Amazing. I subscribed to the project on GitHub and I receive email updates every single day. The book has been released, but they're still iterating constantly. I can't even begin to comprehend the complex mathematics racing through my inbox, but the fact that these brilliant mathematicians are collaborating like this, creating something that has never existed before, out in the open, and I have a front row seat... it just blows my mind."

Interesting, nuanced take on "virtual reality" and journalism.

Another option (other than Diigo) to create some bundled work based on bookmarking . . .

not much that's new but a good overview of the business of Twitter